Cardboard carton



United States Patent 3,510,047 CARDBOARD CARTON Arnold W. Pascus, MountProspect, and Edmund Boehm,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Elwood Industries, Inc., a corporation ofIllinois Filed Feb. 28, 1968, Ser. No. 709,088 Int. Cl. B65d /22 US. Cl.229-36 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carton formed from alaminated blank including two outer plies and a corrugated core, withthe front, sides and bottom of the carton including at least twothicknesses of material. The outer front section of the carton isadhesively secured to an inner front section, and the outer frontsection is scored to define a removable section which provides readyaccess to the interior of the carton.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to the boxor carton art, and more particularly to a box or carton formed from ablank of laminated material including two spaced plies of paper or thelike separated by a corrugated core of paper or the like.

One of the major problems of prior art corrugated cardboard cartons isthat the walls of the carton have not heretofore been sufiicientlyreinforced to provide a durable container which will provide sufficientprotection for the goods within the container during shipment throughthe mails, or the like. Another problem inherent in corrugated cardboardcartons is that they have not included means for positively sealing thecarton to prevent the carton from inadvertently opening during shipment.In certain types of cartons that have included means for positivelysealing the carton, no means has been provided for allowing easy accessto the carton, and as a result, it has been conventional to use a knifeor the like to sever one or more panels of the carton to attain accessto the interior thereof. The danger inherent in this mode of opening acarton is believed to be obvious.

SUMMARY The carton of the present invention admirably solves theproblems noted above by providing a blank including a main panel portionand side panel portions at each side of the main panel portion. The mainpanel portion is generally rectangularly shaped, and includestransversely extending fold lines that divide the main panel portioninto an outer front section, a top section, a back section, a bottomsection, and an inner front section. The fold line dividing the outerfront section from the top section is scored, and the outer frontsection includes a further scored line spaced from and parallel with thefold line dividing the outer front section from the top section todefine between the scored lines a readily removable portion. The scoredlines preferably have a saw tooth configuration, and a pull tab isprovided at one side of the readily removable section, so that the samecan be easily gripped when it is desired to open the carton. Roundedtucking flaps extend outwardly from each side of the outer frontsection, and are adapted to reinforce the sides and corners of thecarton, when it is assembled. Further tucking flaps extend outwardlyfrom the side of the inner front section, and also serve to reinforcethe side of the carton when it is assembled.

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The side panels are also generally rectangularly shaped, and includetransversely extending fold lines that divide each side panel into alocking section, an outer side section, and an inner bottom section. Theinner bottom sections of the side panels reinforce the bottom of thecarton, and include locking means thereon, which cooperate with lockingmeans on the locking section, for preventing the locking sections frommoving relative to the inner bottom sections. The locking sectionsinclude further fold lines parallel with the fold lines dividing thelocking section from the outer side section, to provide therebetween abridging section which overlies the trucking flaps on the outer frontand inner front sections, when the carton is assembled. The faciallyopposed surfaces of the outer front and inner front sections areprovided with an adhesive, which adheres only to itself, so that thecarton will be positively sealed, when it is assembled. Because theadhesive adheres only to itself, the carton blanks may be convenientlystacked and stored, and may be handled without difficulty. The closingand sealing of the carton is extremely simple to effect because of theexternal location of the outer front flap, particularly when compared toprior art cartons where it has been necessary to tuck a closure flapinside of the carton on top of the contents therein. The outer frontclosing and sealing flap also extends as high as the carton itself,which gives extra protec" tion to the front of the carton. From theabove, it will be apparent that the carton of the present inventionsolves each of the problems noted above in connection with known typesof cartons.

Other features of the invention will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following description, taken in connectionwith the annexed drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carton formed in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan of the blank from which the carton of the presentinvention is formed;

FIG. 3 is a front view, on a reduced scale, of the carton during theprocess of its assembly;

FIG. 4 is a front view, similar to FIG. 3, and showing a further step inthe assembly of the carton, with certain portions being broken away;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along line 5-5 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 1

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that thepresent disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theprinciples of the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope ofthe invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the blank from which the cartonof the present invention is formed is indicated in its entirety at 10 inFIG. 2, and the blank 10 includes a generally rectangularly shaped mainpanel portion 11, and generally rectangularly shaped side panel portions12 at opposite sides of the main panel portion 11.

A plurality of spaced, parallel fold lines 13-16 extend transverselyacross main panel portion 11, and divide the same into consecutive panelsections including an outer front section 17, a top section 18, a backsection 19, a bottom section 20, and an inner front section 21. As isevident from FIG. 2, the top section 18 and bottom section 20 aregenerally square and have approximately the same dimension, while theouter front section 17, back section 19, and inner front section 21 aregenerally rec- 3 tangularly shaped, and also have approximately the samedimension.

Outer front section 17 includes a further fold line 22 spaced from, andparallel with fold line 13, and fold lines 22 and 13 are scored toprovide serrations 23 and 24 across the width of the main panel. The sawtooth serrations 23 and 24 form a removable panel section 25therebetween, and a rounded pull tab 26 is provided at one end ofremovable section 25 for ease of removal, as will hereinafter appear.Outer front section 17 includes further fold lines 27 and 28 at oppositesides thereof, to hingedly mount tucking flaps 29 and 30 at the sides ofouter front section 17. As is evident from FIG. 2, the fold lines 27 and28 are spaced inwardly a slight amount from the side edges of topsection 18, and this allows the tucking flaps 29 and 30 to nest properlyat the sides of the carton during assembly, as will hereinafter appear.Tucking flaps 29 and 30 each are spaced inwardly a slight amount fromthe outer end of outer front section 17, and the tucking fiaps arerounded at 29a and 30a to facilitate insertion of the tucking flaps intothe sides of the carton. The bottom surfaces 29b and 30b of the tuckingflaps are disposed generally parallel to fold lines 13 and 22, as isevident from FIG. 2.

The exposed surface 17a of outer front section 17 (as viewed in FIG. 2)is provided with sealing means, and said means may take the form of apressure sensitive adhesive and which adheres only to itself, that isuniformly spread over surface 17a and which adheres only to itself. Theunexposed surface 21a of inner front section 21 (see FIG. 6) is alsoprovided with sealing means, and said sealing means may also be in theform of a pressure sensitive adhesive that is spread evenly over surface21a, and which adheres only to itself. As is evident from FIG. 6, whenthe carton is assembled, surfaces 17a and 21a are in face abuttingengagement with one another, so that when pressure is applied to thesesurfaces, they will adhere to one another to seal the carton. This willbe explained further during the description of the assembly of thecarton.

The inner front section 21 is provided with generally rectangularlyshaped tucking flaps 31 and 32 at opposite sides thereof, and tuckingflaps 31 and 32 are hingedly connected to inner front section 21 by foldlines 33 and 34 that are positioned inwardly a slight amount from theside edges of bottom section 20. As is evident from FIG. 2, the topedges of tucking flaps 31 and 32 are positioned slightly from fold line16, while the lower edges of tucking flaps 31 and 32 are positioned aslight amount from the outer edge of inner front section 21.

The side panels 12 are generally identically shaped, and are connectedto opposite sides of back section 19 by fold lines 35 that are slightlyless than the length of the sides of section 19, and which areperpendicular to fold lines 13-16. Each side panel 12 includes a pair ofspaced fold lines 36 and 37 parallel with fold lines 13-16, which dividethe side panels into a locking portion 38, an outer side portion 39, andan inner bottom portion 40. As can be best seen in FIG. 2, fold lines 36and 37 are spaced inwardly slightly from fold lines 14 and 15,respectively, so that when the carton is assembled, the top and bottomedges of the outer side panel portions 39 will be spaced slightly fromthe top and bottom edges of the back panel section 19. Locking sections38 include a fold line 41 that is spaced from and parallel with foldline 36, and a bridging section 42 is defined between fold lines 36 and41 to be positioned over tucking flaps 30 and 32, as is evident fromFIG. 5.

Side panels 12 include means for retaining locking portions 38 againstmovement relative to inner bottom portions 40, when the carton isassembled, and to this end, generally rectangularly shaped projections43 extend outwardly from the end of locking portions 38 generallycentrally thereof. A generally U-shaped score 44 is provided in eachinner bottom panel portion 40, with the legs of the U facing fold line37. As is evident from FIG. 5, when the carton is assembled theprojections 43 are pressed into the recesses provided by scored portions44, and the bight portions of the U-shaped scores 44 retain theprojections 43 to prevent the locking panel portions from movingrelative to the inner bottom panel portions.

To assemble the carton, the upper portion of the main panel 11 ispivoted about fold line 15 and the side panel portions 12 are pivotedabout fold lines 35 to position the inner bottom sections 40 over thebottom section 20, it being understood that the width of inner bottompanels 40 is substantially the same as the length of bottom portion 20.Tucking fiaps 32 are then folded upwardly (the right-hand tucking flap32 being shown positioned upwardly in FIG. 3), and the inner frontsection 21 is then folded inwardly to place the tucking flaps 31 and 32immediately inside of outer side portions 39. Locking portions 38 arethen folded downwardly about fold lines 36 and 41, and lockingprojection 43 is engaged with U- shaped score 44 leaving a slightopening between outer side portions 39, and tucking flaps 31 and 32. Theupper portion of the main panel 10 is then folded downwardly about foldline 14, and tucking flaps 29 and 30 are inserted in the slots betweenouter side portions 39 and tucking flaps 31 and 32. Outer front portions17 is then pressed into positive sealing engagement with inner frontsection 21 to complete the carton.

When it is desired to open the carton, removable section 25 isconveniently disposed at the front of the carton, with the pull tab 26being exposed at one side. Thus, access can be gained to the interior ofthe carton by merely pulling tab 26 and removing section 25 along theserrated score lines 13 and 22. Access can then be had to the interiorof the carton by lifting top panel portion 18. As is evident from FIG.2, the external exposed edges of the die cut blank 10 are serrated, andthis to a large degree prevents cutting of hands and fingers when theblanks 10 are handled.

We claim:

1. A box or carton formed from a blank comprising: a generallyrectangular shaped main panel including at least four spaced fold linesextending transversely across the main panel and dividing it into anouter front section, a top section, a back section, a bottom section andan inner front section, the top and bottom sections laterallyterminating in straight side edges free of flaps and generally parallelto each other, said inner and outer front sections having laterallyoutwardly extending tuck flaps connected at opposite sides thereof byfold lines that are perpendicular to the first named fold lines; andgenerally rectangularly shaped side panels connected at opposite sidesof said back by fold lines that are perpendicular to the first namedfold lines, said panels each including a pair of closely spaced parallelfold lines on either side of an extension of the fold line dividing thetop and back sections and providing thereby an outer side section, abridging section and a locking section, said side panels each furtherincluding a third fold line parallel to the other side panel fold linesand closely adjacent to an extension of the fold line dividing the backand bottom sections and further providing, in the side panel, an innerbottom section, each of the locking sections and inner bottom sectionshaving mating recess and projection surfaces for lacking engagement whenthe locking section is folded inwardly about the bridging section so asto be generally parallel to the outer side section and the inner bottomsection is folded partially about its fold line so as to overlie themain panel bottom section; the side panel locking sections and innerbottom sections terminating in inner edges generally paralle and closelyadjacent to, the side edges of the main panel top and bottom sections,respectively, with a substantial portion of the entire periphery of theblank having a dull, wavy, peripheral edge.

(References 011 following page) 6 3/1966 RinghOlZ et a1. 22548 X 4/ 1967Barnes 22951 X 5/1968 Thompson et a1. 229-36 X FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1967France.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner 5 References Cited 3,232,826 1 ,870UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,385,424 10/1937 Semonson.

8/ 1939 Lane. 12/ 1945 Woltberger et a1 22549 5 1,494,492

3/ 1960 Cottrill 229-51 12/1961 Tarmina 22933 X 6/1962 Modica 22936 X2/1963 Heinz 225-49 11/1963 Martin 229-36 10 225-49 US. Cl. X.R.

